On Monday, February 13, the Kenmore City Council approved a plan for funding the first phase of implementation for its Climate Action Plan and growing Housing and Human Services needs. The plan includes increases in three revenue sources: 1) vehicle license fees, 2) garbage utility tax, and 3) natural gas utility tax. When combined, they would cost a typical Kenmore household an additional $11.53 per month (approximately).

At the January 23 meeting, the City Council reviewed a proposal for funding the implementation of the Climate Action Plan and Kenmore's growing Housing and Human Services needs. During budget meetings last fall, the City Council discussed the urgent needs around climate change, housing, and human services, and directed staff to come back in January with a proposal to fund the initial phases of these efforts. The proposal includes increases in three revenue sources in particular: 1) vehicle license fees, 2) garbage utility tax, and 3) natural gas utility tax. At the January 23, 2023 meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to bring forward the proposed plan for action and approval at the February 13, 2023 City Council meeting.

There are two ways to submit your comments about the proposed funding for the Climate Action Plan and Housing & Human Services:

• Email the City Council
• Provide public comment at an upcoming City Council meeting

The Kenmore City Council’s top two priorities for 2023 and 2024 are 1) Climate Action Plan Implementation and Environmental Stewardship and 2) Affordable Housing, both of which are urgent crises that demand immediate action. Human Services is closely related to affordable housing and is also in need of additional resources. Meaningful implementation of these top two priorities will require funding and staffing beyond what is currently budgeted in the City’s General Fund for 2023-24.

Climate Action Plan

“Climate Change is the defining issue of our time, and we are at a defining moment.  From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult and costly.”    - United Nations

On April 4, 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the scientific group of the United Nations charged with monitoring and assessing global developments on climate change – issued its sixth report. According to the latest assessment, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue to grow, and there is increased concern about our ability to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which will have calamitous consequences that could send the planet’s warming into an irreversible feedback loop.

The IPCC's findings are clear: Local governments like ours must join regional, state, and national governments to drive action that facilitates a rapid transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and sustainable global community. Now more than ever, cities like Kenmore have a critical role to play in addressing the climate change impacts already at our doorstep. IPCC Working Group Co-Chair Jim Skea stated the following: “It’s now or never if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”

After over a year of community outreach and input, the Kenmore City Council adopted a Climate Action Plan in May of 2022. Kenmore’s adopted Climate Action Plan sets a goal to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and be net carbon neutral by 2050. The plan sets forth things the community can do, things the City can do, and things we can do together to meet this goal. The memorandum presented to the Kenmore City Council on January 23, 2023 lays out a plan to staff and fund the implementation of the Climate Action Plan and promote more environmental stewardship.

Housing & Human Services

"Over the long term, we need more housing that average workers can afford...those solutions require every community to do their part.”    -Washington State Governor Jay Inslee

Another defining crisis of our time is homelessness, lack of affordable housing, and housing inventory in general. Human services needs coincide with the lack of affordable housing, and Kenmore is no exception to this crisis.  Aggressive measures need to be taken to increase and affordable housing units and provide assistance and services to those in our community who are struggling.

 

• Fully Fund the Implementation of Climate Action Plan. Quickly bring on a Climate Action Plan (CAP) Manager in early 2023 to engage the community and assess available resources (grants, partnerships, etc.) and funding gaps. Based on this assessment, bring forward a proposed funding package as soon as possible (no later than fall 2023) to fully fund the ongoing implementation of the Climate Action Plan.  In the meantime, the CAP manager will implement “low hanging fruit” and key actions in the CAP.

• For Housing and Human Services, create a Housing & Human Services (HHS) Manager position in 2023 to engage the community, conduct a needs assessment, identify available resources (grants, partnerships, etc.), serve as a resource to connect our residents with services, and assist with the growing HHS body of work that already exists.  Based on the needs assessment, bring forward a more comprehensive Housing & Human Services funding package for consideration by fall of 2023.

• Included in this initial funding package are the necessary costs of administrative support, including information technology, legal, insurance, a new position in the finance department, equipment and facilities, etc.

Proposed Funding Sources for 2023 and 2024:
At the November 7, 2022 study session, the City Council gave direction to fund the above-described plan (for 2023-2024) with the following three revenues:

1. A new solid waste utility tax;
2. An increase in the annual vehicle license fee; and
3. An increase the natural gas utility tax.

After analyzing and compiling the costs of the proposed plan, staff recommends the following:

• Create a solid waste utility tax of 10%
• Increase the natural gas utility tax from 4% to 6%
• Increase the annual vehicle license fee from $20 to $40 per vehicle (thereby reducing the General Fund subsidy to the Street Fund and freeing up that General Fund money to be spent on this package) 

More details on the proposed sources and uses for this plan can be found in Exhibit A to the memorandum for the January 23 City Council meeting discussion.

Here’s how Kenmore’s tax rates for these three proposed funding sources compare with other cities in the area:

 

Below is an estimate of the impact of each of the three proposed funding sources to a Kenmore household.

Solid Waste Utility Tax

Republic Services bills its residential customers quarterly at $155.83 per quarter (2022 rate), for three bins: yard waste (biweekly), recycling (biweekly) and garbage (weekly):

A 10% solid waste utility tax would add $15.58 to the quarterly bill, or $5.19 per month, or $62.33 per year.

Natural Gas Utility Tax

Puget Sound Energy bills its residential customers monthly. A 2,250 square-foot Kenmore home with a natural gas water heater, natural gas furnace, and a natural gas stove received the following bill from PSE last month (bill period: 11/14/2022 - 12/14/2022):

Based on a total natural gas bill of $175.01, a two percent increase in the natural gas utility tax would cost this homeowner an additional $4.11 for that month. Average daily “therms” of gas usage for this particular month were 4.57, which is the second highest month over the last twelve months; in the summer months, average daily therm usage drops below one. On average, a 2% increase in the natural gas utility tax should conservatively cost this homeowner about $3 per month or $36 per year.

Vehicle License Fee

The proposed vehicle license fee in this funding package would increase the annual local fee per vehicle from $20 per year per vehicle to $40 per year per vehicle.  Assuming a household with two cars, the cost increase will be $40 per year.

Total Annual Cost to a Household

Combining all three revenue proposals, and using the estimates shown above, the total annual cost to a “typical” household is estimated as follows:

Solid Waste Utility Tax at 10%                         $62.33

Natural Gas Utility Tax 2% Increase                 $36.00

Vehicle License Fee Increase to $40                 $40.00

Annual Total                                                     $138.33

Monthly Total                                                    $11.53

The Kenmore City Council’s top two priorities for the 2023-24 biennium are 1) Climate Action Plan Implementation and Environmental Stewardship and 2) Affordable Housing, both of which are urgent crises that demand immediate action. Human Services is closely related to affordable housing and is also in need of additional resources. Meaningful implementation of these top two priorities will require funding and staffing beyond what is currently budgeted in the City’s General Fund for 2023-24.

The 2023-2024 preliminary budget presented by the City Manager in early October 2022 included a proposal to fund the CAP implementation as well as new housing and human services resources via a multi-year property tax levy lid lift to be brought forward to the voters in 2023. 

A majority of the Council, with the intent to fully fund the CAP, suggested an approach where the City would first fund, “councilmanically” (under City Council authority), hiring a CAP Manager who will:

• Begin implementing the CAP
• Determine staffing needs and other resource needs
• Determine what resources (grants, partnerships, etc.) already exist and can be leveraged to implement the CAP; immediately apply for grants and establish those partnerships.
• Based on the above, bring forward a proposal for staffing, resources, and funding

At the November 7, 2022 study session, this approach to first hire the CAP Manager was presented to the City Council. After questions and discussion, the direction was to come back in early 2023 with a more detailed proposal for this approach and to include the three funding sources (solid waste utility tax, natural gas utility tax increase, and vehicle license fee increase).

As a result, at the January 23, City Council meeting, City staff brought forward the direction provided by the City Council during their November 7, 2022 meeting.

Climate Action Plan (CAP) Manager

Create a new CAP Manager position that would report to the Environmental Services Director. The CAP Manager would start in early 2023 and would do the following work:

1. Immediately begin implementing key portions of the CAP. Examples would include:

• Implement state and federal lobbying efforts on issues such as the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), new State building codes, and vehicle fuel economy standards
• Promote Puget Sound Energy’s Green Power program throughout the City
• Develop and implement education and outreach programs in high GHG emission categories identified in the CAP, including Buildings and Energy, and Transportation & Land Use
• Expand Electric Vehicle charging throughout the City
• Coordinate with City’s new Fleet and Facility Supervisor to implement emission reducing measures for City operations, such as implementing PSE Green Power, upgrading facilities, and electrifying vehicles/equipment
• Track community and City actions and progress against a baseline (e.g. increase in number of EV charging stations

2. Explore and assess resources currently available to implement the actions identified in the CAP, including partnerships with other government and nonprofit organizations (e.g. Eastside Climate Challenge).

3. Explore and apply for state and federal grants to help fund the CAP implementation. Utilize a federal lobbyist to assist in identifying, applying, and advocating for City grants. The federal lobbyist would also advocate for direct appropriations for CAP initiatives and environmental stewardship projects (e.g. riparian habitat restoration) in the City.

4. Keep the CAP up to date, including updating greenhouse gas emissions, recalibrating the CAP to the latest available science and practices, and aligning the CAP with state and regional efforts, including K4C.

5. Determine additional resources needed to fully implement the CAP, including additional CAP staff. Engage the community and bring forward a funding proposal as soon as possible (no later than fall of 2023) to meet these needs. The funding source(s) of the proposal would be identified during this process.

A proposed job description of the CAP Manager is included in Exhibit B of this Memo.

Housing and Human Services (HHS) Manager

Also in this proposed plan, the City would hire a Housing and Human Services (HHS) Manager who would report to the Deputy City Manager. The HHS Manager would perform the following:

1. Conduct a human services needs and resources assessment, including exploring partnerships with other government and nonprofit organizations.
2. Apply for state and federal grants to help meet the resource needs for housing and human services in Kenmore. Utilize a federal lobbyist to assist in identifying, applying, and advocating for housing and human services grants. The federal lobbyist would also advocate direct appropriations for housing and human services initiatives and other “on-the-ground” HHS projects in the City.
3. Assist with existing HHS work and initiatives, including representing the City at regional meetings (e.g., ARCH, KCRHA, North King County Human Services Alliance, etc.), and taking the lead on such projects as the Plymouth housing development and the Holt property development.
4. Serve as a resource to connect our residents with services and help them find solutions to their housing and human services challenges. 
5. Based on the needs assessment and all of the above, bring forward a proposed Housing & Human Services funding package in by the fall of this year. This package would likely be included with the CAP funding package.

A proposed job description of the HHS Manager is included in Exhibit B of this Memo.

Administrative Support Costs

This plan would trigger administrative support costs, including in human resources, finance, information technology, legal, building utilities and maintenance, vehicles and equipment, and more. These administrative support costs include a proposed new Administrative Services Manager in the Finance & Administration Department.

Adding more staff and programs for CAP and HHS will exacerbate the need for additional administrative support staff as well as the need for added resources in other administrative functions, including legal, information technology, facilities, HR, risk insurance premiums, and more. The Administrative Services Manager would help the Finance Director with the budget, audit, risk management and insurance, and other financial and administrative functions. 

A proposed job description of the Administrative Services Manager is included in Exhibit B of this Memo.

Timeline for the Proposed Plan:

• February 2023: City Council approves the plan and adopts the tax increases.
• February 2023: Recruitments for the three positions begin.
• April 2023: The three positions are hired and begin working for the City.
• April - October 2023:
  • CAP implementation begins.
  • CAP and HHS Managers identify existing resources (grants and partnerships) and staffing needs, and begin community engagement on potential additional resources and funding sources.
• October 2023: Funding proposals are submitted to the City Council.
• November 2023: City Council considers and adopts the proposals.
• January - February 2024: The adopted proposals are implemented.